I may regret this at some point, but I felt the need to put down in writing how I feel about this moment in the tech industry.
It is not kind. You may well be insulted by it. If you are... then you really should question yourself.
I may regret this at some point, but I felt the need to put down in writing how I feel about this moment in the tech industry.
It is not kind. You may well be insulted by it. If you are... then you really should question yourself.
@Crell Thank you for quantifying the various aspects that it takes to keep AI running. It’s one of those details that is becoming increasingly apparent, but difficult to grasp the scope.
Would you care to elaborate on the “This is how societies die.” comment? Is that primarily in the sense of social apathy? In the lack of respect for others/foresight over long term consequences? The disruptive tactics of numerous tech companies that have eliminated many norms? Or something else?
@wwhitlow All of the above.
Major empires aren't destroyed from without, but by their own greed, infighting, and incompetence.
In this case, the "it is what it is" attitude is unworthy of someone in a democracy. That's how the billionaires and pedo-fascists were able to take over.
Then add short-sightedness about global warming for the last 50 years, and AI is just the latest part of it. That will kill us all. "It is what it is."
@Crell @wwhitlow I think the societal aspect goes further than that. Because we are ending up not teaching anything person to person any more.
Take StackOverflow. Although there were often simple questions (and answers) with little thought, there was also a large amount of great questions, with equally great answers — so detailed that you learned the actual basics. This is now gone due to AI.
LLMs have only learned old content from there, anything newly created projects won't even be taught.
@derickr @Crell @wwhitlow Writing and maintaining code - not one off projects for x - but all the rest that they are built on - is a social process in and of itself. What happens when the discussion and the collective learning and memory about it is lost?
Feels minor in relation to many of the global and localized impacts mentioned in the post, but one that I've not seen thought through elsewhere.